This introductory course to Photoshop covers the fundamental functions to get started editing and improving photos. The student learns how to customize workspaces and panels, navigate the canvas effectively, work with multiple images and file types, and use various methods of image enhancement, including layering, selecting, and masking. Support files are included for this course, so students can follow along in the hands-on lectures. If you're a beginner to Photoshop or simply want to learn more about various selections, layering, and masking techniques, this course is for you!

The course is structured in a way to maximize learning. I first go over how to do basic functions in Photoshop like

Adjusting settings of new documentsNavigating around the canvasCycling through screen modesWorking with multiple imagesCropping and resizing images

I then go over into more detailed instruction, in which the students continue to follow along and learn more about

The final three follow-along exercises involve using layering and masking to create a “text in photo” clipping mask effect, a high dynamic range landscape adjustment, and a selective sharpening portrait edit.

I have years of experience using Photoshop, including doing web and advertising design at a newspaper, an advertising design firm, a library system, and freelance work for about two decades. I’ve also been managing editor at two international graphic design magazines, and I’m currently a full-time professor of graphic design and digital media. I’ve taken classes on digital production and design during my undergraduate and graduate work.